CSI Case Files 3: Playing With Fire
by Kylie Anderson
Summary: There’s an arsonist on the loose and he’s leaving clues for Nick. Nick will soon find out, if you play with fire, you’ll get burned.
1. If you play with fire

C.S.I Case Files 3: Playing With Fire

Chapter 1

If you play with fire…

Nick rolled out of bed when his alarm clock went blaring. He shut it off and got ready for work.

At work, Grissom came in quickly with assignments. "Nick, Sara and I have an arson in Henderson. Warrick and Catherine, you have another arson in Henderson. I want all of you to call me and tell me what you found. It's possible that both arsons are connected." Grissom ordered.

Nick, Sara and Grissom all got into one car and drove into Henderson. A woman outside was crying. "My daughter, Emily, she's only nine! Where is she?" The woman was screaming.

"Miss, your daughter is dead. I'm very sorry for your loss." A fireman said to the woman.

"No, you don't understand! I'm a single mom and she's my world!" The woman said crying watching her house go down in flames.

Sara walked over to the woman. "Hello, my name is Sara Sidle and I'm with the Las Vegas crime lab, I was wondering would you like to tell me what happened?" Sara asked.

"My name is Rose Curt. I…um…I work nights. Emily doesn't get to see me too often. I came home from work and saw my house on fire. I knew Emily was okay though because she was supposed to be at a friend's house. She wasn't and I didn't know and the fireman didn't know." Rose said crying again.

"Thank you and I'm very sorry for your loss." Sara said turning away.

----

Catherine and Warrick stood watching a house go ablaze. There was a teenage girl outside. "Hi, my name is Catherine Willows and this is Warrick Brown from the Las Vegas Crime lab, could you tell us what happened?" Catherine asked.

"Sure, my name is Ashley Jones. My parents are out of town this weekend and I was home alone since I'm an only child. I always make sure I turn off the stove and stuff; I swear I didn't do this. My parents are so going to kill me. I positive I didn't start the fire, but then again, you know how careless teenagers can be…" Ashley began.

"Yes, so was there anything odd that happened today?" Warrick asked.

"No," Ashley answered. "Maybe if you arrest me my parents won't kill me."

Catherine smiled. "We're going to try and find the cause of the fire." Catherine explained.

----

Grissom was called and told what happened at the Jones's house. A little boy walked up to Nick who was standing behind the crime scene tape. "You're not supposed to be in here." Nick said shortly.

The boy handed him a piece of paper.

_Riddle me this, riddle me that,_

_Can you find this rat? _

_Watch out Nicky, if you play with fire, you're gonna get burned. _

"Who gave this to you?" Nick asked.

"Man," The little boy answered.

"What did he look like?" Nick asked.

"Tall," The little boy answered.

Nick could tell he wasn't going anywhere with this conversation. He sighed and lead the kid out of the crime scene. Grissom walked over to him. "What do you have?" Grissom asked.

Nick showed it to him. Grissom raised his eyebrow.

_If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned._


	2. First Clue

Chapter 2

First Clue

Grissom was deep in thought. "Nick, I…" Grissom began, but was cut off by his cell phone. "Hello?"

Grissom hung up quickly. "Catherine and Warrick got a note from a little girl. It said, _Can you catch me Nicky? Or are you too slow? I'll give you riddles, I'll give you hints, but if you can't figure them out, it'll be too late._" Grissom told him.

Nick sighed. "I don't get it. Why are all the notes addressed to me?" Nick asked shaking his head.

"We're having a meeting in the conference room now Nick. I may decide to take you off this case and have you followed by police officers if we think this is a threat to your life." Grissom warned.

Nick simply nodded. He didn't feel like arguing.

In about twenty minutes, everyone was in the conference room. "What do the riddles mean?" Catherine asked.

"Well, the last one is defiantly a threat to Nick." Sara pointed out.

"It looks like the arsonist is going to leave us clues to something." Warrick said.

"When do you want to catch someone? What happens when you're too slow?" Grissom asked.

Everyone was silent. "A race? If you're too slow you loose a race." Nick said after a few minutes.

"Exactly!" Grissom said.

"The first riddle said, 'Can you catch this rat?' Maybe it means Rat Race Track." Sara said quickly.

Catherine nodded. "Maybe…" Catherine began.

Nick's phone rang. "Very smart friends you have Nicky. Come alone in ten minutes. If you don't…" A voice warned before hanging up.

Nick looked shocked. "Nick, what's wrong man?" Warrick asked.

Nick shook his head. "I got a call from the arsonist. He can hear us. He said my friends were smart and I have to get to the Rat Race Track in ten minutes or he'll do something. He said I have to go alone." Nick explained.

"You're not going alone." Grissom said firmly. "Too many things have been happening to our C.S.I's. First Catherine, then Sara and now you,"

"Grissom, he can hear us. I'm going alone." Nick said finally and he ran out of the room grabbing his coat on the way.

"Oh boy, I've got to save Nick's butt again." Warrick said shaking his head.

Catherine held him back. "No, Nick's not going to get hurt I don't think. He needs to go alone."

Warrick sat back down. He hated not knowing whether his friend was going to be okay or not.

All they could do was wait.


	3. Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 3

Unexpected Visitor

Nick walked slowly in a deserted race track. Rat Race Track was normally very active in the day with cars racing in all directions, but at night, it was dead silent.

Nick saw there was a note and phone on a pile of tires. "I told you to come alone. Now someone is going to pay the price. Play by the rules Nicky or don't play at all." A voice said from the cell phone. "I'll use this phone to contract you."

There was nothing but a dead tone after that. Nick was stunned. He had come alone. He picked up the paper and read:

_Fire burns,_

_Oh how it hurts,_

_But it never burns twice in the same place._

Nick stuffed the note into his pocket and looked around. He saw a small car in the distance. He knew it was Brass's car. Nick pulled out his cell phone and called Brass. "What are you doing here?" Nick asked angrily.

"I was sent here to make sure nothing happened to you. I'm in the distance." Brass's voice said.

"Yeah well, you weren't distant enough. He knows you're here and he's going to kill someone else." Nick said shaking his head.

Nick hung up angrily. Brass drove to where he was standing. "Sorry kid, Grissom wanted someone here in case something did go wrong." Brass said.

Nick shook his head. "Someone is going to have their house burnt down and they could burn as well." Nick said.

Brass was silent. "We're going back to the lab Nick." Brass said at last.

Nick got into his car and Brass followed him to the lab. At the lab Warrick was waiting at the door. "Hey Nick! Are you alright?" Warrick asked walking over to him.

"Yeah, fine. Some family somewhere will suffer though because of Grissom." Nick said bitterly.

Sara, Grissom and Catherine joined Nick, Warrick and Brass. "Why do you sound so upset?" Catherine asked.

"Grissom had Brass follow me! The arsonist knows! He's going to burn down some other house! I've got another clue and a cell phone." Nick exclaimed.

"Nick, it was in your safety I was concerned." Grissom stated.

"Yeah well, I can defend myself; someone else may not be able to." Nick said quickly.

Grissom didn't press the issue further. It was obvious that Nick was very angry at him and it wasn't going to change. "What does the clue say?" Sara asked changing the subject.

They all read it. "'Fire burns, oh how it hurts', that sounds like this person was burned before. 'But it never burns in the same place twice', it means that we should probably be looking for a case that Nick ran where a person was burned. The place it was at will be where the next fire or clue is at." Warrick said quickly.

"Brass…" Grissom began.

"Already on it," Brass said flipping his phone on to get all of Nick's arson cases.

Nick sat quietly in a nearby chair. Within a few minutes, Brass had all of the case files brought to him by another C.S.I. Grissom, Sara, Warrick and Catherine began to look through them. "All of the suspects in these cases are dead or in jail. All of the victims are out of state or dead." Sara said at last.

"Which leaves us where?" Warrick asked sighing.

Grissom turned to Nick. "Nick, I do not understand this case at all. I want you to take a few days of absence and when you do, you'll have a police officer at your door at all times." Grissom said quickly.

The cell phone rang that the arsonist gave to Nick. "Nicky, you wouldn't leave work, would you? You know, it's safer there then at your house. I've been in your house. I'm in here now. I've got the entire crime lab has microphones and there are camera's everywhere. I've done the same to your house. Where are you safe Nicky?" A man said before hanging up.

"You guys, he's in my house now." Nick said weakly.

"Nicolas, are you in danger again? Ya'll better watch your step 'cause you don't know where the rattle snakes are." A female voice said at door.

Nick was surprised to hear his full name let alone a female with a Texan accent. "Haley Snow?" Nick asked amazed.

The woman with brown hair pulled in a pony tail and brown eyes. Haley smiled. "Yep. I'm here for a conference and your ma called and told me you were a C.S.I here, so I had to come." Haley said.

"Look Haley, it's great to see you, but I've got a case." Nick said quickly.

Haley smiled. "You still a science geek? Nicolas, you watch out now. I've heard some things. As your best friend I advise you to carry your gun everywhere you go. That arsonist was in your house." Haley said shortly.

"How do you know?" Grissom asked quickly.

Haley sighed. "I found out from your pa where you lived, so I went to your apartment. The door was open and you know how I am, I get worried, so I ran inside. A man wearing a ski mask was there. He pulled out a knife and explained everything to me. He said he was an arsonist and he was going to set your house on fire as soon as you did somethin' you were supposed to do a long time ago. He told me to git, but not before he cut me on my arm. Nick, all I wanted to do was see you." Haley said with a few tears in her eyes.

Nick walked over to her and lifted up her sleeve and saw a long cut that was bleeding a bit. "Haley, I'm sorry." Nick managed to say.

"It's fine Nicky. I just wanna say if you don't be careful, I can't imagine what he'll do to you. I've got to go and I don't wanna keep you from your work. I'm staying here at this room. If you get sometime, call me." Haley said leaving just as quickly as she came.

"She's a friend?" Catherine asked.

"She was my best friend in Texas years ago." Nick said quickly.

The unexpected visitor had surprised everyone, but now that Haley was gone, Nick was now concerned about his safety and the safety of others.


	4. Lock Down

Chapter 4

Lock Down

Nick's cell phone rang. "Nicky, was that your girlfriend? She was awfully scared at your house. How scared is she going to be when she's burning alive?" A man asked before hanging up.

Nick's phone was now wired and everyone could hear it because it was on a speaker phone. "I can't trace it. It's too short." Archie said from the computer.

Nick shook his head. "We've got to find her. She's been my best friend since kindergarten." Nick said quickly.

"Warrick and I will go back to the crime scenes to see if there's any evidence there to help us know his pattern." Catherine offered.

"Grissom and I can work on finding Haley with Brass's help." Sara offered.

"Nick, you can stay here with Archie and see if you can't find anything in the background." Grissom said.

"Did you dust that phone for prints?" Warrick asked as he was leaving.

Nick nodded. "No prints whatsoever." Nick said quietly.

"Don't worry. We'll find your girlfriend." Warrick said joking.

Nick smiled weakly too worried to argue back.

Everyone had left the room except Archie and Nick. Archie was working on the background. "Do you hear that?" Archie asked.

Nick listened for a minute. "I don't hear anything." Nick said.

Archie nodded. "That's it! There's no background noise. It's really odd. The man's voice is enhanced somehow, but I can't tell how. I think this guy is taping his voice, taking out background noise and shortening sound waves to make his voice deeper." Archie explained.

Nick sighed.

----

Catherine and Warrick sifted through the burned objects in the Jones house. "The point of origin seems to be the living room." Catherine pointed out.

Warrick look at the light bulb. "It's facing that way. That's where the fire started." Warrick said pointing to the window.

Catherine looked down near the window. "There's a match here." Catherine stated.

"The couch is probably highly flammable. Maybe the arsonist saw the open window and threw the match in on the couch. The couch caught fire and soon the whole house was on fire." Warrick said.

Catherine nodded. "That's seems logical." Catherine said shortly.

----

Grissom and Sara had called the hotel and Haley wasn't in yet. "Where could she be?" Sara asked.

"I don't know, but…" Grissom began, but was cut off by Brass running into the room.

"A local bar's on fire. Everyone got out except a brown haired girl who was locked in the bathroom. The firemen got her body out, but she's dead." Brass said quickly.

Sara and Grissom got in their cars to see a new crime scene.

----

Catherine and Warrick visited the other house and it was the same. The living room window was the point of origin. There was a match by the window as well. "I guess we'll check for trace evidence." Warrick said swabbing the floor as he had done with the other house.

Catherine nodded and Warrick left for the lab.

----

Sara and Grissom looked at the woman on the stretcher. "Yeah, that's Haley Snow." Sara said remembering meeting Haley.

"She's got a purse." A fireman said.

Grissom put on his latex gloves and opened the purse. There was a Texas driver's license with Haley Snow's name on it. "It's her." Grissom said shortly.

Sara felt terrible for Nick at that moment. His best friend was dead and he was being taunted by a crazed arsonist.

----

Warrick was waiting for trace evidence from Hodges. "There's no trace evidence." Hodges said. "At all three crime scenes,"

"Three?" Warrick asked confused.

"Yeah, Grissom sent a sample from a bar that was on fire. Haley Snow died." Hodges informed.

"Does Nick know?" Warrick asked.

"No, Grissom is going to have a meeting in a conference room in about five minutes. Don't you have your pager on? Or do you just not pay attention?" Hodges asked.

Warrick left without another word to Hodges. He arrived at the conference room in time. "I just heard from Hodges. Why didn't you page me?" Warrick asked sitting down.

"Oh, sorry Warrick, I must have forgotten." Grissom said shortly.

Sara cleared her throat. "Who's going to tell Nick?" Sara asked.

"Warrick, you and Nick are pretty close. Why don't you tell him?" Catherine asked.

Nick walked in silent. "Funny how I didn't get a page." Nick said at last. "I know Haley's dead."

"Nick, I'm sorry." Sara said quickly.

"How do you know?" Grissom asked surprised.

"News travels fast. Haley's parents were contacted and they're coming up. They think I caused this. They said I wasn't a good kid to hang out with at school and they're still like that." Nick said quietly.

"Nick, it's not your fault. You've been in jams before. We'll always get you out." Catherine said.

Nick got up just as the cell phone rang. "Haley's dead. You're best friend is dead. Are you going to be next Nicky? Or is Sara, the girl you like? I know all about you…" A man began.

"This is C.S.I Willows. Tell us why you picked Nick." Catherine said quickly as the phone was on speaker.

"I see you C.S.I Willows. You know me, Nick knows me, Grissom knows me, Sara knows me, Warrick knows me, and you all know me. I'm in the building now. Catch me if you can." A man said before hanging up.

Archie ran into the room. "I got a trace! It's coming from in this building!" Archie shouted frantically.

Grissom had called Brass for a lock down. Everyone was searched.

Who called?


	5. You're Next

Chapter 5

You're Next

There were tons of police officers that came. "We know one of you did it! Tell us who it is now." Brass said to a group of C.S.I's.

"Look, it wasn't any of us. Have you thought someone may be changing their signal to our lab?" Archie asked.

"You seem to be trying to lead us away from the lab." Brass observed.

Archie sighed. "I didn't do anything." Archie said.

Nick's phone rang. "Bravo Archie. You're smart. You made it so the cell phone was on speaker phone. You're tracing my call, but all it will do is lead you to where you're standing. Now Nicky, are you hot? The four year old girl at 46 Greenway Lane in Las Vegas is burning up." A man said hanging up.

Brass left quickly for 46 Greenway Lane and Nick followed. A house was on fire. A black, 3.2 foot, burn creature came to Nick. It was crying. "Help…" A little voice scratched.

Nick realized the burned creature was a human. "Hold on," Nick said softly leading the thing to an ambulance.

The medics rushed the burned girl to the hospital. Nick felt sick. "She's going to be fine. She'll probably have some scaring, but that's it." Brass said quietly.

"I'm sick of playing this twisted game." Nick said shaking his head.

Nick's phone rang. "Nicolas, I heard Haley died. Her parents are on their way to Las Vegas now. They said you were responsible. It's been a long time since I've seen you sweetie." A female voice said quickly.

"Ma, this isn't the time." Nick said annoyed.

"Yes it is. Did you kill Haley?" Nick's mother asked.

"No, she died in a fire. I've got a job to do mother." Nick said hanging up.

"Not to nice to your mother, are you?" Brass asked.

"I've got other things to worry about." Nick said quickly.

----

After three hours, the lab was cleared and the lock down was over.

----

The girl had died. Sara, Grissom, Warrick and Catherine were all at the new crime scene where Nick and Brass were waiting. "We have nothing. This man is going to kill and keep killing until he dies. There's nothing we can do." Nick said frustrated.

"Nick, we're going to find this guy." Grissom said shortly.

The phone rang. "Nicky, I will show up in person at your house. I won't say when and how, but I'll be there. If you try and get your cop friends involved, I'll kill you. If you try and stop me, I know where your guns are. There's one by the phone and another…well you get my point. Until we met again," A man said before hanging up.

Everyone heard this. "Nick, you should stay at a hotel." Sara advised.

"No, I'm going to stay home." Nick said quickly.

With that, Nick drove to his home. "Welcome home Nicky," A man dressed in black said as Nick walked though the door.

Nick took a sharp intake of air. "Who are you!" Nick cried out.

The man pushed a white cloth to Nick's face. "I told you, you were next Nicky." The man said as Nick slumped to the floor unconscious.


	6. Blazing House

Chapter 6

Blazing House

Nick woke up in his house. He was sitting in a chair and then he remembered the man and the cloth. He found he was bound tightly with ropes to his chair. "I'm sorry I had to knock you out Nicky, but I had to tie you up you see." The man said sneering.

"Why did you kill Haley?" Nick asked angrily.

"Oh, she came up from Texas to a conference that didn't exist. I made it up and she fell for it. I killed her because she was close to you Nick." The man said.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Nick asked irritably.

"I am James Ho. You see, I killed all those people with fire. I like fire. I like the way it burns, the way it looks, the way it smells and the way it destroys. I was in a fire when I was only four. I was scared for life." James said taking off his mask.

It revealed a burned, scared, ugly face. Nick could help but let a gasp escape him. "Yes, it's bad, isn't it? I decided I would make people suffer the way I had. I wanted to claim their lives, their faces, their houses. I wanted to get caught. I want people from know on to fear me. My house wasn't set on fire by accident, it was arson. To get caught, I was going to leave clues, but I had to find a C.S.I smart enough to follow me. I came to Las Vegas and found in a paper that you guys were pretty smart. I found your name and I did research on you. I started setting fires and leaving clues for you. You figured it out. Bravo." James said.

"What are you going to do now?" Nick asked as calmly as he could.

James smiled. "I'm going to set your house on fire. I am then going flee. This game is too much fun. I set fires to other cities, taunt other C.S.I's and then kill them…just…like…you." James said stressing the last words.

Nick was beginning to yell for help. James gagged him. "Well, goodbye C.S.I Stokes…the C.S.I that almost caught me." James said lighting a match and threw it on the sofa.

The sofa caught fire instantly. James smiled and left the house. Nick tried to tip over the chair, to get away from the flames that were licking his face. Nick looked around frantically. There had to be something…anything to help him.

Nick saw there was fire all around him. The flames were climbing higher and higher. The smoke was building up.

Nick let out a muffled scream.

Then, there was nothing.


	7. Bullet

Chapter 7

Bullet

Nick rolled over and coughed. He found himself flat against the grass. "He's coming around!" Grissom's voice called.

An oxygen mask was put over Nick's face and he was put on a stretcher. "Hey Nicky," Warrick said coming quickly to Nick's side.

Nick went into a spasm of coughs again and the ambulance roared off.

Catherine, Sara, Warrick, Grissom and Brass watched the ambulance disappear around the corner. They then turned to Nick's house which the firemen were trying to put out. "He'll be fine." Sara muttered.

"Okay, we can all go to the hospital to check on Nick. It'll take them a while to put out the fire and clear the scene." Grissom said getting into his car.

Catherine scanned the crowd. She saw many neighbors, but she saw one man who was wearing black and hiding his face. Catherine noticed how all of her co-workers were in their cars. She walked over to the man. "Hello, my name is Catherine Willows, C.S.I. May I ask you a few questions?" Catherine asked politely.

The man looked up shocked revealing a burned, scared face. He pushed her to the ground and ran. Catherine got back up and ran after the man. Grissom noticed the chase and drove ahead cut the man off. He pulled out a gun. "Stop," The man ordered.

Catherine stopped. Brass, Sara, Warrick and Grissom got out of their cars. The crowd watching the fire turned their attention to the man holding the gun. "Don't do anything stupid Cath," Warrick warned quietly.

Catherine calmly smiled. "Hello, I have told you my name, but I don't know yours." Catherine said as calmly as she could.

"Nick got lucky! It wasn't supposed to happen like this." The man said angrily. "My name is James Ho."

"Why don't you put the gun down and we can talk?" Sara asked.

James turned the gun towards her. "Shut up!" James ordered.

Catherine walked towards James. "Stop! If you don't stop I'll shoot you!" James said backing up.

Catherine stopped. "Put down the gun," Brass ordered.

James shook his head. "I've worked too hard to get caught now! I've done everything! Everything!" James shouted.

Warrick, Grissom, Sara, Catherine and Brass all exchanged worried glances. They were all thinking this man was a madman.

Catherine, who was closest to James, pulled out her gun. "Please James, put down the gun. I don't want to use mine." Catherine said calmly.

"No! You put the gun down or else I will shoot you!" James hollered.

Catherine shook her head sadly. "That's not how we play. Put the gun down." Catherine said quietly.

James shook his head. He pulled the trigger.

The bullet found a target.

A/N- Yes, it's a cliffhanger, but I'll update soon.


	8. Cat and Mouse

Chapter 8

Cat and Mouse

The bullet was lodged into a tree. James threw the gun down and ran. Warrick was easily able to catch up with him and tackle him to the ground. Brass arrested James.

The team all left quickly for the hospital. They sat in silence waiting for any news on Nick. Brass joined them shortly after. A doctor came out after a while. "Hello, my name is Dr. Roberts. Are you the party of Nicolas Stokes?" Dr. Roberts asked.

They nodded and stood up. "A Mr. Gilbert Grissom is listed under his emergency contacts. Therefore, I can only give any information…" Dr. Roberts began.

"We're C.S.I's and police officers. We know the law." Brass said shortly.

Dr. Roberts smiled. "I know, it's just procedure that I have to follow. Will you please follow me Mr. Grissom?" Dr. Roberts asked walking into an office off to the left.

Grissom nodded and followed him. After a few minutes, a gunshot was heard inside the office.

A woman screamed. Warrick, Brass, Catherine and Sara pulled out their guns and ran into the office. Grissom was sitting on the floor with a gunshot wound to his arm. Dr. Roberts was holding a gun. He put the gun to Grissom's head. "Back away or else…" Dr. Roberts threatened.

Catherine and Grissom had been friends for the longest time. They looked at each other. Could Catherine leave Grissom to his doom and to his certain death? "I said back away!" Dr. Roberts growled to Catherine.

Catherine backed away with everyone else. Grissom was holding his arm. Dr. Roberts crouched beside Grissom and put the gun to his head. Grissom kicked Dr. Roberts sharply. He let out a howl of pain.

Brass and Warrick tried to retain Dr. Roberts, but he grabbed Sara and put the gun to her head. It was now a game of cat and the mouse…and right now the C.S.I's were the helpless mouse.


	9. Paperwork

Chapter 9

Paperwork

Brass had enough. He took a shot after careful aiming. Dr. Roberts lay on the floor moaning. Catherine, Warrick and Brass rushed over to Sara. She waved them off. "Grissom needs your help more than I do." Sara muttered.

"You okay?" Catherine asked looking at his arm.

"Yeah, it's just a shot." Grissom said calmly.

"Well look on the bright side, you're in the hospital already." Warrick said lightly.

Grissom smiled. "Right," Grissom said biting his tongue to fight back the pain.

A woman rushed in. "Oh my god! Dr. Roberts! Mr. Grissom!" The woman said quickly.

She bent to Dr. Roberts's side. She checked his pulse. "He's alive thank god!" The woman announced as two doctors carried him off.

"How dare you shoot at my supervisor!" The woman said angrily

"We had to, he was holding Grissom and Sara hostage." Brass explained.

The woman bent to Grissom's side. She helped him up and they disappeared through two large swinging doors.

After an hour, they finally got an update. Grissom was released. His arm was bandaged up and the bullet was taken out. Nick was also doing fine. He inhaled a lot of smoke and would cough for a while, but he would be fine and was released as well.

"Nick! How are you?" Warrick asked rushing to Nick's side.

"Smokey…" Nick said smiling.

Warrick, Sara, Catherine, Brass and Grissom all laughed. "I heard you and Dr. Roberts had a Texas showdown. What happened?" Nick asked to Grissom.

"Dr. Roberts wanted to tell me how you were doing and he pulled out his gun and shot." Grissom said shortly.

"This case made since until Dr. Roberts shot Grissom." Sara said shaking her head.

"Well, I'll drive Nick and Grissom home. From there, we can finish this case. Sara, I want you and Warrick to go to the lab and wait for me." Catherine ordered.

Nick shook his head. "I'll be fine…" Nick began before he coughed.

"No, you're going to rest." Catherine said softly.

"I'm fine Catherine, why do you want me off the case? Is it so you can act as supervisor?" Grissom asked.

Catherine shook her head. "No, it's not everyday you're shot at. Trust me, you both need rest. Later tonight, I'll stop by to see if either of you need anything." Catherine said quickly.

"Catherine, they're not children." Brass said.

Catherine smiled. "I know, but I'm a mother." Catherine said.

Warrick and Sara followed Catherine's instructions while she dropped Grissom and Nick off at their houses.

Sara and Warrick met up with Catherine in the hall. "While we were waiting for you, we did some research on Dr. James Roberts. He had a son, James. James's mother was never married to Dr. Roberts. Can you guess her last name?" Sara asked quickly.

"Ho," Catherine answered.

"Yep, Dr. Roberts has met with James a lot. It looks as if Dr. Roberts shot Grissom to protect James." Warrick finished.

"Good work." Catherine said smiling. "We just have to do some paperwork and then we'll be done."

Sara and Warrick sighed. Paperwork wasn't any fun.


	10. Back to Before

Chapter 10

Back to Before

Grissom and Nick went back to work the next day. Greg came back to greet them. "Hey you guys!" Greg said turning up his crazy music.

Nick laughed where as Grissom looked stern. "Turn that music down Greg." Grissom barked.

Greg did as he was told. "Catherine, Sara and Warrick and done with the case." Greg reported.

"Thanks," Grissom said before leaving.

Nick and Greg talked a while on girls and then Nick left as well. Catherine was sitting in the break room. "I heard you did a good job yesterday." Grissom said shortly.

"Oh?" Catherine asked surprised.

"Good job," Grissom said before leaving.

Warrick entered the room. "Hey Catherine," Warrick said.

"Yeah?" Catherine asked.

"I was wondering, do you have any plans for tonight?" Warrick asked.

Catherine nodded sadly. "Yeah…uh…Eddie's really mad Grissom pressed charges so he's trying to get some attorneys against me." Catherine said quietly.

"If you need a friend…" Warrick began.

"Thanks Warrick. I don't think I'm doing anything tomorrow though…" Catherine said smiling.

----

Grissom sat in his office quietly. Everything was so odd. Catherine hardly talked about what happened to her or about Eddie. Sara didn't talk about what happened to her.

Sara Sidle. Grissom could tell she liked him, but couldn't she tell he wasn't the guy for her? Nick was her guy. Grissom was too old, too different.

Now Nick had been in danger. Was Grissom really a good supervisor? Should he quit for the safety of his friends?

Grissom had no clue what was going to happen, but he could tell things were never going to be back to before.

----

Sara noticed Nick was sitting in the conference room alone. Sara walked behind him. Nick jumped. "Sorry to startle you," Sara muttered.

"Oh it's okay. I'm always jumpy." Nick said lightly.

"Nick, I've been thinking. Grissom isn't the right guy for me." Sara said quietly sitting beside Nick.

Nick was quiet for a second. "So why are you telling me?" Nick asked.

"Because you're the right guy for me," Sara said looking into his eyes.

----

The C.S.I's were getting closer as they were falling apart. One can only hold their emotions for so long. It hurts, but with time and friends, all the pain will go away.

This was a story of life and death and it won't end here. Oh no, it's far from ending.

**The End…for now**

Disclaimer: I do not own C.S.I

A/N- I hope you like this second part in my series. I hope you could tell the pairings which will continue to be light romance as the real plot is general, drama and mystery. If you like this story, check out my others.

Okay, some people have e-mailed me wondering what the C.S.I Case Files are about. Each one will focus on a main character and they'll all lead to a huge finale. The next Case File will be called **C.S.I Case Files 4: Dead Last**. Warrick is going to run a five mile race for C.S.I Las Vegas in Las Vegas while the rest of the C.S.I's are trying to figure out the cause of product poisoning. Will Warrick be next?

It's coming out soon.


End file.
